a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to seat covers and, in particular, to covers for shopping cart basket seats for children.
b. Prior Art
Most supermarkets and a variety of other stores provide customers with shopping carts. The typical shopping cart has a folding child seat in which a young child can sit as the cart is pushed through the store. Although ubiquitous, these seats leave much to be desired.
One problem is that a great many people use the shopping cart. Microorganisms abound on the handle of the cart and on various other exposed cart surfaces. Microorganisms and other contaminants pass from the exposed surfaces to the child, who is often touching and in some cases chewing on the exposed surfaces. Prior art devices such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,204,695, 4,323,430 and 4,655,502 all disclose supplements for use in shopping cart child seats, but all of these devices leave portions of the cart exposed and within the reach of the child.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,655,502 and 5,238,293 disclose a shopping cart cushion and seat cover, respectively. Each device has leg holes through which the child's legs extend. However, in both cases the leg holes are open. The child can reach through the holes with his or her hand and touch exposed surfaces of the cart. In both devices, the child may pull his or her feet up, touch them with their hands, and sometimes even put one of their feet up to their mouth. As shoes are usually dirty, it would be desirable to prevent the child from touching their dirty shoes while sitting in the shopping cart.
Another problem is that the child is left unsecured within the seat. Many children are injured each year from falling out of or against the child seat. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,204,695 and 4,655,502 propose a restraining strap that extends through the backrest of the child seat and around the child. In both arrangements, however, there is a buckle in the front of the strap that rests adjacent to the child's stomach. If the buckle is tightened sufficiently to restrain the child, the buckle digs into the child's skin, making the child uncomfortable and sometimes leaving a mark on the skin.
An active child can also disengage the buckle, rendering the restraining strap useless. Even if the strap were to be reoriented so that buckle is behind the back support of the seat, the child could reach behind the seat and unlatch the buckle.
An additional problem relates to storage of seat covers when not in use. U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,293 proposes rolling up the seat cover when not in use, and then securing a strap about the rolled-up seat cover. Under this arrangement, a significant portion of the seat is exposed during storage. The seat cover can gather dust, get dirty, or otherwise become unsanitary during storage.